JV talent ready to give Hawks boost on varsity

Kelly will hope a returning front court and newcomers from last year's strong junior varsity team will help overcome the graduation of its two leading scorers.

The Hawks and coach Nick Lanpher will look to build on a strong finish that led to the Class 3, District 2 championship game, where Kelly lost to eventual final four qualifier Charleston.

Kelly will need to re-establish itself at guard, a position occupied last season by Major Burger and Lance Scheffer, who both pulled in postseason honors their senior seasons. They were the only Hawks to average double-figure scoring last year, but Lanpher doesn't believe offense will be a problem.

"We're going to score a lot of points," Lanpher said.

The Hawks have a returning senior front court of center Josh Jones (6-4) and forwards Trey Simmons (6-3) and Chris Romas (6-3). Senior guard Brook Edmonds saw a lot of varsity action last year and guard Kendall Deason leads a talented cast of newcomers from last year's 21-3 JV squad.

Also moving up from the JV will be guards Kent Deason and Derrick Felter, forwards Michael Glastetter and Trent Walters and center Clay Mothershead.

"They were one of the better ones we've had in a while," Lanpher said of last year's JV squad, coached by Cory Johnson, a former guard at Southeast Missouri State University. "They ran the ball real well and were a good defensive team."

Those are all attributes Lanpher thinks this year's varsity will possess.

"We'll have a little more balanced scoring this year, I believe," Lanpher said. "We have 10 boys and they all can score. There's nobody that will be a 30-point scorer, but hopefully we can keep four or five in double figures all the time."

Romas is the top returning scorer, averaging around nine points a game last season. Jones and Simmons both were around seven points. Romas and Jones led the team in rebounding, an area that concerns Lanpher.

"Josh is pretty strong inside for his size, but we're just not very big," Lanpher said. "We run into a team that has 6-5 and 6-6 and we could be hurting."

The Hawks look to be running the floor and applying defensive pressure. Lanpher thinks the Hawks have the depth to play the aggressive style.

"We're real deep," he said. "All 10 of those boys can play. I can put any of those in and we won't get hurt."